It is known that the female mosquito in this species will mate
just once, after which she will "undergo certain physiological
changes", eat a blood meal and lay a batch of eggs. The zoologists
found that "this behaviour was the same regardless of whether or
not the mating encounter had produced fertilised eggs that could
hatch into mosquito larvae".

To arrive at this conclusion, they produced 100 spermless males
by injecting ordinary mosquito eggs with a protein that disrupted
the development of their testes. This prevented them from producing
sperm in adulthood, but, says the team, "did not interfere with any other sexual
function or behaviours in either the female or the male".

Mosquito couples were then isolated in the laboratory and the
scientists observed their behaviour and physiology "during key
stages of reproduction". They detected no differences between the
fertile and non-fertile couples, and also noted that the females
that had mated with an infertile male did not try and seek a
supplementary mate, "effectively missing out on the opportunity to
reproduce and pass on her genes".

Malaria kills nearly 800,000 people annually, the report adds,
but it is hoped that this finding could provide a way of
controlling the mosquito population. Co-author Professor Charles
Godfray, from the University
of Oxford's Department of Zoology, said: "This is an exciting
time with modern genetics providing a series of new ideas about how
to control the major insect vectors of human disease, including the
mosquito Anopheles gambiae - perhaps the single most dangerous
insect species for mankind.

"A number of these techniques involve disrupting natural mating
patterns and to get these to work a really good understanding of
mosquito mating and reproduction is essential."